Town Meeting Votes To Move Forward On Community Path Review; A New Court Coming To Winn Brook

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Photo: The easement along the north side of the MBTA commuter rail tracks adjacent the French/Mahoney property off of Brighton Street.

An attempt by a prominent Belmont resident to kill off funding for a next step review of the proposed community path was beaten back by Belmont Town Meeting on Monday, June 7 showing the at times controversial project continues to hold wide support in town.

The amendment submitted by Frank French to return $200,000 to the Community Preservation Committee was defeated handily, 64-192, coming after a wild debate that saw French’s attorney make what appeared to be not so subtle threat the town is likely to face millions in legal judgments if it pursued the path project. That was followed by Belmont’s long-time state senator Will Brownsberger informing Town Meeting that it was French who wasn’t holding up his end of a decades-old bargain with the state that allowed his family to build on an old railroad right of way.

In fact, according to town officials, the engineering firm working on the path submitted a revised plan Monday morning that no longer required any forced taking which French was opposing, rendering his amendment – which took nearly two hours to debate – effectively moot.

Monday’s meeting – the second of four nights in which members would debate budget and financial issues – followed the script of the first in which a single binding article dominated the nearly four hour session as the meeting took up four projects presented by the Community Preservation Committee. Two projects, transferring $250,000 to the Belmont Housing Trust to initiate affordable housing partnerships and $35,000 in design costs as part of the renovation of Payson Park, breezed through with little trouble.

It didn’t come as a surprise the $200,000 sought by the Community Path Project Committee to determine the right of way for phase one of the path – from the Clark Street bridge to the Cambridge line at Brighton Street as well as a pedestrian tunnel under the MBTA commuter rail tracks at Alexander Ave – was set to begin a lively discourse as French filed his amendment to put the brakes on the project placing the path’s future on hold and effectively in doubt.

A great primer of the community path project can be found here.

Russ Leino, the chair of the Project Committee, told the assembled members (attending over Zoom or viewing on community television) the funds would be used by Nitsch Engineering to prepare a detailed Right of Way (ROW) plan as part of the requirements to obtain federal Transportation Improvement Program money that will pay for the majority of the construction.

The work will determine if any private property will be impacted by the construction, most likely that will be temporary and minor such as access to the property to complete the design work, said Leino, although there could be permanent impacts such as repairing retaining walls and at pinch points “but will not actually run over the property.” Owners can “donate” that access to the town or have an appraisal done to determine a fair dollar compensation which will require another Community Preservation Committee request to fund. ROW work isn’t new to Belmont as the town did a similar project when the state renovated Belmont Street and Trapelo Road and the recent completed Welling Safe Routes to School project. The plan is critical as the federal government and state will not move forward funding without it.

Saying his committee – as well as the town and Select Board – are committed to minimizing impacts to private property, Leino noted a project of this magnitude will effect someone’s lands. “The funding by this appropriation really has to be completed in order to fully understand and quantify … those impacts for the Town Meeting to decide what you want to do with that information,” said Leino.

French, Precinct 2, said he and the Mahoney family that jointly owns the land at the corner of the Brighton and the commuter rail tracks and from where they run their businesses, have granted an easement to the path but are opposed to any permanent takings. French mentioned the long-stand complaint by those opposing the path that it should have been placed on the south side of the commuter tracks (more on that to come). Because there was the likelihood of an eminent domain taking, the families have “consulted” attorney and Belmont resident George McLaughlin.

McLaughlin initially came before Town Meeting not forwarding his client’s claim but his own experience of 37 years of successfully litigating Eminent Domain lawsuits winning millions for his clients. When McLaughlin returned to the amendment at hand, he spoke at length that in his opinion, Belmont has “vastly underestimated” the potential damages from this path to residential property along Channing Road.

This line of argument apparently was far afield from a pre-meeting agreement with Town Moderator Micheal Widmer on what would be discussed. That consensus quickly blew up as Widmer and McLaughlin took issue with how much leeway would be given in arguing the amendment.

”Mr. McLaughlin, as we’ve discussed before this meeting. Eminent Domain is beyond the scope so I’ll repeat, you need to talk about the path,” said Widmer.

“What I’m trying to inform the Town Meeting members is that if they go ahead with this plan, I think they are pursuing a plan that explore exposes the town to, you know, $4 million in damages,” claimed McLaughlin.

While saying that McLaughlin’s general point on eminent domain was “fine” to bring up, Widmer requested the attorney to “please adhere to my request that you stay with the scope of the discussion,” noting he had done so three times. The back and forth continued with both men saying they had grown frustrated with each others stance with McLaughlin claiming Widmer had “changed the rules” of the debate.

As Widmer attempted to wrangle McLaughlin in – with little success – Town Meeting members began bombarding Town Clerk Ellen Cushman with Point of Order claims noting McLaughlin was well outside the scope of the matter at hand. Widmer pointed out that a town meeting could not be run by those citing rules violations.

While French and McLaughlin spoke on the town taking a portion of the property, Leino presented an “11th hour” development in which Nitsch determined on the previous Friday that the latest design no longer required taking a permanent easement of the French/Mahoney property. “It can be done there on the existing easement. I was happy to see that as a positive development,” said Leino.

And Brownsberger turned French’s claims on their head by reviewing the context of how French’s secured the site in the first place. Brownsberger said in 2008, French – who Brownsberger called a friend who he respects – approached Brownsberger seeking his support in building his business office on the site knowing the right of way would bisect the property. French building sits on a historic railroad right of way, used as far back as the 1870s as the Fitchburg to Lowell connection until passenger service ended in 1927 and commercial rail halted in the 1980s. State statutes requires anyone attempting to build on a rail road right of way to first obtain a determination of inapplicability from the Department of Transportation.

In 2009, Brownsberger helped French get the process rolling to build but only if the Mass DOT which regulates rail right of ways would preserve the possibility of building a bike path from Brighton Street to Belmont Center and not give away the entire right of way which it did.

“So the point is that MASS DOT gave the ability for Mr. French to build … but retains the right to build a bike path through it,” said Brownsberger. While he was allowed to build up to the easement, French also crossed into it to install a stone sign, curbing and parking with the hope that a possible bike path would never be built.

“Now I was chagrined when I learned that Mr. French was upset about this process,” said Brownsberger. While acknowledging that previous design plans from Nitsch appeared to violate the decades old compromise between the state and French, Brownsberger “is very relieved that the discussion over the past week … that there is no need” for any additional land taking in the latest engineering blueprints.

With French’s concerns apparently addressed, “I look forward to continuing to support this path,” working with the state so to “keep solving problems and keep moving this fast forward,” said Brownsberger. “As an elected official, I am absolutely committed to making sure this works within the easement.”

Select Board Member Mark Paolillo next spoke in greater detail how town officials and representatives from Nitsch would keep the path within its prescribed easement. He also addressed the need for the route to travel along the northside of the commuter tracks as being due to the reluctance of the owner of an essential rail spur to negotiate with the town.

With debate open to the public, members sentiments ranged the gambit of why the French amendment was allowed to move forward if the “problem had been solved” to Stephen Rosales from Precinct 8 expressing his support for French via the lyrical talents of Kenny Rogers.

”You got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away and know when to run,” Rosales said, not sung. Despite the Yeoman efforts by the town, “the time has come. Belmont can no longer hold them,” he said noting that the CPC will “ante up” $1.7 million in studies and engineering work without any guarantee of federal or state funding.

Mark Kagan, Precinct 8, said roadblocks such as the French amendment is the reason that popular infrastructure projects are delayed or killed off. Having lived in bike happy the Netherlands, Kagan said cycling is the wave of the future as it promotes safe, fast transportation that is climate friendly. “Let’s vote this down this amendment and move on Belmont, the greater Boston area and the United States into the future,” said Kagan.

The question was called and the subsequent vote on the Amendment was an overwhelming defeat for French. The debate on the $200,000 allocation for ROW costs was anticlimactic and speedy with the article passing, 200 to 50.

Tennis plus one at Winn Brook

Town Meeting voted to add a single tennis court to the existing facility adjacent to the Winn Brook Elementary School playground and the Joey’s Park Playground.

Jon Marshall, the assistant town manager and recreation director, said an additional court was suited to the site because 1. the town can always use more courts, and 2. an additional tennis court will make for a total of five which is needed to hold regular season and tournament contests by the Belmont High School tennis teams.

Opposition to the new court came from two camps: nearby residents and those who wish to see courts on the high school campus. Melissa McIntyre, Precinct 8, opposed the article, not so much the courts being placed in the neighborhood but the public process the Recreation Commission undertook in approving the location. McIntyre said the strip of green space between Joey’s Park and the courts which will be reduced is an important place that is a place to take a break from the hurly burly of the playground and sport fields. Kathleen “Fitze” Cowing, also Precinct 8, asking why unlike other park and recreation projects the tennis court didn’t go through a two-fpart approval process with a design phase followed by CPC construction funding.

But by 10:45 p.m., the meeting had little energy to go against the CPC’s recommendation and there will be a fifth court at the Winn Brook by the start of the varsity tennis season next April.

[Update] Early Release Monday, Tuesday As Heatwave Shortens School Day; Students: Bring Water, Sunscreen

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Photo: Heatwave on tap for the beginning of the week

[Update] For a second day, schools will be dismissed early on Tuesday, June 8, due to the high heat conditions.

Given the current heatwave and concerns for students and staff, the Belmont School District will be dismissing school early Monday, June 7.

  • Belmont High will dismiss at 1:30 p.m.
  • Chenery Middle School will dismiss at 1:15 p.m.
  • Butler, Burbank and Wellington will dismiss at 1:40 p.m.
  • Winn Brook will dismiss at 1:50 p.m.

On Monday:

  • Lunch will be served in all schools.
  • Belmont High School will have morning MCAS as planned.
  • All after school care programs are cancelled.
  • All after school activities are cancelled.
  • Remote instruction will end at these times as well.

With Belmont in the midst of a multiday heatwave (+90 degree F high temperatures) beginning on Saturday, June 5 and lasting until Wednesday, June 9, the Belmont School District will monitor the temperatures inside schools and assess whether or not we may need to dismiss students and staff early from school, according to John P. Phelan,
Superintendent of Schools.

“Please know that if we do choose to shorten the school day next week for heat concerns, we will communicate any change via email and/or automated call,” said Phelan in an email to the school community.

With the heatwave occuring during a week schools are in session, the district reminds students and parents that it is important for students and staff to stay hydrated. School officials recommend everyone bring a water bottle that can be replenished at our fill stations, dress for the weather and wear sunscreen.

“Please see the nursing department’s bulletin sent on May 28 regarding Warm Weather Reminders,” said Phelan.

‘Extra Innings’: Belmont Town Meeting Reconvenes Wednesday With A BRAVE Act Taking Center Stage

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Photo: Town meeting (non virtual)

When Betsy Vose asked her fellow Financial Task Force members Friday morning how the first night of the reconvened Town Meeting had gone Wednesday night, she was caught by surprise when she was told that after nearly four hours the meeting had voted on a total of two articles which included a non-binding resolution.

“So we’re already in extra innings!” said Vose, now expecting with most observers the three subsequent meetings in the next week will be going late into the night.

In the past decade, the budget/expenditure articles before Belmont’s annual Town Meeting are lumped together in what is called Segment B. And due to the near-automatic approval of nearly all the articles during that time, you wouldn’t be that far off to label the segment as B for boring.

But not this year as the 2021 Town Meeting made its return on Wednesday, June 2 (and will continue on Monday, June 7, and Wednesdays June 9 and 14) The second coming of the town’s legislative body – Segment A was completed last month – saw members absorbed in debating the articles in such detail and with a lack of urgency that it is almost preordained the remainder of the meeting is destined to slouch towards Bethlehem.

After an appetizer of the Department of Public Works/ Belmont Police Department Building Committee presenting a report and video of its successful renovation of the police headquarters and DPW building, the first of the main courses were presented in amendment 11, a non-binding resolution for Fossil Free New Construction sponsored by the Energy Committee. Marty Bitner, Precinct 8 and co-chair of said committee.

The article was originally scheduled to come before the 2020 Town Meeting but was pushed back from a year before due to the pandemic when the article was a bylaw change, following a similar change passed by Brookline in 2019 that required all new construction to be fueled by electricity, banning oil and natural gas as options. The Brookline bylaw was later found by the Massachusetts Attorney General to be illegal as the state has the only authority to alter the state’s building code.

Monday’s aspirational resolution seeks to change the state building code to mandate fossil-free construction, direct the state Department of Energy to create a zero net energy “stretch code” requiring buildings to have electrical fuel systems and revise the state gas law to give towns the authority to restrict future gas permits on new construction.

Bitner pointed out passing the article would have Belmont joining 18 other municipalities who are seeking fossil fuel mandates and it will demonstrate Town Meetings commitment to reaching both the town and state’s net-zero carbon emission by the self-imposed 2050 deadline. Opponents, such as Stephen Rosales, Precinct 8, said they want to have choices on what energy source to use, that non-binding resolution reduces Town Meeting to “student government – if you want a community discussion, organize a community forum” and non-binding resolutions can become “gospel” over time. The article passed 188-57 with 8 abstentions.

After the usual 9 p.m. break, Aaron Pikcilingis, Precinct 6, presented his citizens petition (Article 7) dubbed The Brave Act, made up of four provisions. First, town employees who are fulfilling military obligations would be paid to the same extent that state employees are eligible for such payments; second, the town will design and establish a voluntary property tax workout program for veterans; third, the town will provide tax credit and exemption eligibility for disabled veterans who live in and pay taxes on a home that is owned by a trust for their benefit; and fourth, the town will add a tax exemption for Gold Star parents and guardians who lost a child serving during war time.

While not having served in the US military, Pikcilingis felt compelled to submit the article after learning a Belmont employee was using his own vacation time to pay for his service creating infrastructure in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic while putting themselves and their families at increased risk.

“I believe we should do all we can to support them now and beyond the pandemic as they continue their service where it is needed,” he said.

The first provision would do two things. First. provide full town pay for up to 40 days of paid military service during which service members receive both their town pay and military pay. Currently, depending on the contract, Belmont doesn’t pay for any days or only 17 days if they are either police or fire personnel. Second, the new provision would add differential pay for military service. So, let’s say if an employee’s military pay is less than their town pay, Belmont will pay the difference for those unpaid military days. Currently, four employees would be impacted by the new provision, with the expected annual expense per employee between $4,500 to $18,000 or about $11,300 on average. So four employees would cost the town an extra $45,200 with the range being $18,000 to $72,000.

The other three provisions were straight forwards with the voluntary work program and home owned in a trust each with a very small cost while the Gold Star provision costing $10,000 to $16,000 with a total cost of between $28,000 to $88,000 a year. The act would be reviewed annual and can be ended by Town Meeting vote after three years.

While each provision received general approval, it was the Gold Star tax exemption that produced the most push back including a 3-12 vote by the Warrant Committee against favorable action. Some supporters of the entire article believed those who opposed the provision as it could attract parents who lost children in combat to move to the Town of Homes for “tax-free living for their lifetime” as tone-deaf.

Peg Callanan, of Precinct 7, said that while the town voters did defeat an attempted override in April,
“it is my strong belief that the service and sacrifice of our veterans … should never be measured against a sum of money” then quoted Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Miller who said, “let us never forget those who have given their tomorrow’s for our todays.”

The four provisions passed and the article was accepted.

Belmont Honoring Retiring AD Jim Davis At Harris Field, Wednesday, June 2

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Photo: Jim Davis, retiring Belmont High AD

The Belmont School District will honor Jim Davis who is retiring as Director of Athletics & Physical Education for the Belmont Public Schools after serving the district for 19 years.

The celebration will occur on Wednesday, June 2 at halftime of the Belmont vs St. John’s Prep boys’ rugby match. The game between the state’s two top rugger squads will begin at 7 p.m. at Harris Field. The estimated start time of the 10-minute celebration will be 7:45 p.m. Sarkis Asadoorian, Belmont High School’s longtime athletic trainer and high school educator, will be the main speaker.

Belmont Returns To Normalcy With Solemn Memorial Day Observance

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Photo: Belmont veterans at attention.

Across the country cities, town and counties marked the first holiday weekend in more than a year where most, if not all, restrictions to halt the spread of the COVID-19 were lifted. Some saw the return of crowds to sporting events (the Indianapolis 500, playoff basketball and hockey), businesses and restaurants open fully, or crowding beaches and playgrounds.

In Belmont, the day was observed in solemn remembrance of the 119 residents who died defending the country since the Civil War, a return to the annual ritual cancelled last year due to the pandemic which took so far nearly 600,000 of our fellow citizens.

“It’s fitting that [Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker] lifted the COVID restrictions on Memorial Day weekend, as the future of maskless freedom coincides with this day of honoring those who fought for our freedom, both here and around the world,” said Belmont Select Board Chair Adam Dash. “Today we remember those lost in the military. We should also reflect on those losses to the horrible sickness which profoundly changed our lives as we were sequestered in our homes and left without full human contact for over a year.”

In the days before, Belmont High School athletes and volunteers placed new US flags at the graves of veterans and the fallen. On Monday, the weekend rains ended and residents along with contingencies from Belmont Police and Fire departments, the Belmont High School marching band, boy and girl scouts, and town employees all came to gather at Belmont Cemetery to remember and reflect.

The observance, coordinated by Belmont Veterans Service Officer Bob Upton and led by master of ceremonies retired USMC Col. Michael Callanan, recalled the son, the father, friend, colleague, and neighbor who made the ultimate sacrifice. Retired Army Brig. Gen. Len Kondratiuk spoke of Pharmacist Mate Second Class Daniel Joy, a 23-year-old medic who died at Guadalcanal in 1942; Richard Quigley, an 18-year-old who was one of the first Americans killed in the Korean Conflict; Edward Teddy Lee, a 20-year-old leader in an elite army reconnaissance unit known to his comrades as the bravest and toughest soldiers in the company, who was killed in action in May 1968 in Vietnam; and Jonathan Curtis, an Army specialist who gave his own life protecting his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan 10 years ago. His mother, Pamela, was in attendance.

Pastor Bob Butler of the Open Door Baptist Church recalled Lincoln’s Gettysburg address in which the 16th president said “we can not dedicate, we can not consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.” In airing our gratitude, “we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not out of the words, but to live by them,” said Butler, quoting John F. Kennedy.

Massachusetts State Rep. Dave Roberts, while remembering his friends Alex and Tom, Army personnel who died in service, connected Memorial Day with June 15, the day the state of emergency in Massachusetts will be over. “I just want to say I hope you and your families have come through this trying time.”

Dash noted the lasting legacy of those who sacrificed their lives for the country continues in their hometown’s civic structures both physical and systematic including municipal buildings, natural preserves, “our schools, our library, monuments, and infrastructure, both old and new.” But that local bequest “has been fractured of late by choices, politics, and economic hardship. But fractures can heal” by putting aside our personal interests for the greater good … and recognize that we were stronger together than we were apart.”

“This little town of homes is a family. Families may sometimes fight, but they love and defend each other. We’re not all soldiers and sailors, but we all understand the example that they set, the legacy that they leave, the honor that they embody in life and echo in death,” said Dash.

“We owe it to them to pull together and marching to the future united, and ready to leave this town better than we found it.”

Despite Difficulties, 54 Belmont Musicians Accepted In Northeast Junior District Honors Festival

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Photo: Singers and instrumentalists score at Jr. District Honors

Fifty-four students from Chenery Middle and Belmont High schools were accepted to perform in the Massachusetts Music Educators Association Northeast Junior District honors ensembles this year, according to Arto Asadoorian, the Belmont Public School’s Director of Fine and Performing Arts. The remote festival took place on May 1, and included students from school districts across eastern and northeast Massachusetts.

The following Belmont students were accepted to Junior District ensembles. The process of auditioning this year was much different than in the past, involving pre-recorded auditions. While we congratulate these students for being accepted to honors ensembles, all of the students who auditioned should be commended for their dedication and the effort they put into their auditions.

  • Joesph Barry Trombone
  • Danielle Bergen Violin
  • Rohan Bhagwati Trombone
  • Claire Boyle Chorus
  • Parker Brookins Trumpet
  • Allison Caputo Violin
  • Brady Chan Trumpet
  • Aidan Chen Clarinet
  • Amy Chen  Violin
  • Ian Choi  Trumpet
  • Joshua Christensen Chorus
  • Mark Chumack Trumpet
  • Quincy Crockett Oboe
  • Caroline Dudzinski Bassoon
  • Bethany Eagar French Horn
  • Allyson Gomez-Martin Chorus
  • Mark Guzelian Trumpet
  • Hank Hicks  Bassoon
  • Elspeth Hulsman Chorus
  • Esther Ji  Violin
  • Nari Kang  Violin
  • Daniel Kim Cello
  • Ethan Kim Trombone
  • Sam Kutsman  Clarinet
  • Ian Lee  Violin
  • Isaac Lee  Clarinet
  • Clodagh Liang Violin
  • William Lin  Alto Saxophone
  • Daniel Liu  Violin
  • Laila Lusis  Trombone
  • Jordan Macarty Alto Saxophone
  • Ali Masoud  Tenor Saxophone
  • Hugh Montana String Bass
  • Sydney Mun  Oboe
  • Katherine Murphy Alto Saxophone
  • Stella Ovcharova Mallet Percussion
  • Arjun Pai  Trumpet
  • Reyansh Parikh Snare Drum
  • Ryan Park  Trumpet
  • Nathan Peck  Violin
  • Rohin Pinisetti Trombone
  • Su Min Pyo  Clarinet
  • Sophia Qin  Oboe
  • Andrew Quinn Cello
  • Maia Redi  Mallet Percussion
  • Jin Roe  Cello
  • Malcolm Stanton Trumpet
  • Andrew Wood-Sue Wing Jazz Guitar
  • Aiden Yang  Violin
  • Evan Zhang  Clarinet
  • Larry Zhang  Clarinet
  • May Zheng  Chorus
  • Emily Zhou  Flute
  • Elizabeth Zuccarello Euphonium

Belmont Farmers’ Market Opening 2021 Season Thursday, June 3

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Photo: The Belmont Farmers’ Market

Opening Day for the 15th season of the Belmont Farmers’ Market will occur on Thursday, June 3 at 2 p.m. in the Town Center parking lot, 10 Claflin St. in Belmont Center.

Pandemic rules: The goal is to make everyone feel safe and comfortable at the Market, and has worked with the Belmont Health Department to develop this season’s rules:

  • Masks are encouraged for everyone, especially non-vaccinated people older than five years old.
  • This season, shoppers may select their own produce, but the market is limiting the number of people at each produce stand.
  • Read all of our pandemic rules for 2021.

Food assistance The market will match SNAP and P-EBT benefits, as well as WIC + Senior FMNP coupons to help all families take home great, local food. Most of the produce vendors are in the HIP program. See how food assistance works, or donate to support the program.

This season the market will have six new vendors (in italics), and 17 favorites from previous years. Many are weekly. Some come every other week, monthly or occasionally – get our newsletter so you know each week’s schedule. See what’s growing now on the farms.

Full-Time Vendor List

Produce: C&M Farm, Dick’s Market Garden, Giant Gorilla Greens, Hutchins Farm, Joyberry Farm, Nicewicz Family Farm
Meat, dairy & fish: Lilac Hedge Farm, Hooked (Red’s Best Seafood + Boston Smoked Fish), Round Table Farm cheese
Baked goods: Hearth Artisan Bread, Mariposa Bakery
Prepared foods: Del Sur empanadas, Drew’s Stews and More, Just Hummus, Mei Mei Restaurant, Tex Mex Eats tamales, Valicenti Pasta FarmAnd more: A-Butter almond butter, Flores de Café coffees, Hillside Harvest hot sauces, House Bear Brewing mead, Humble Bones Granola, Merton’s Maple Syrup

Opening Day Vendors

Produce: C&M Farm, Dick’s Market Garden, Giant Gorilla Greens, Hutchins Farm, Joyberry Farm, Nicewicz Family Farm
Meat, dairy & fish: Lilac Hedge Farm, Hooked (Red’s Best Seafood + Boston Smoked Fish), Round Table Farm cheese
Baked goods: Hearth Artisan Bread, Mariposa Bakery
Prepared foods: Drew’s Stews and More, Just Hummus, Tex Mex Eats tamales, Valicenti Pasta Farm
And more: House Bear Brewing mead

What’s Open/Closed On Memorial Day in Belmont; Trash/Recycling Delayed A Day

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Photo: Memorial Day at Belmont Cemetery, 2019

Memorial Day is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the military personnel who have died in the performance of their military duties while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It’s observed in 2021 on Monday, May 31.

Belmont will commemorate Memorial Day with a ceremony at Belmont Cemetery off of Grove Street at 11 a.m.

What’s Closed:

  • Belmont Town offices and Belmont Light are closed. They will officially reopen to the public on Tuesday, June 1.
  • US Postal Service offices and regular deliveries.
  • Banks; although branches will be open in some supermarkets.

MBTA: Operating buses and subways on a Sunday schedule. See www.mbta.com for details.

Trash and recycling collection: There will be no collection Monday; trash and recycling will be delayed ONE DAY

What’s Opened:

• Retail stores

• Coffee shops: Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts are serving coffee all day

• Supermarkets

• Convenience and drug stores (CVS) open regular hours

• Establishments that sell beer and wine are also allowed to be open.

Everyone’s Invited! Restrictions Lifted For HS Graduation Ceremony At Harris Field

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Photo:

In partnership with the Belmont Health Department, Belmont High School is lifting restrictions on the commencement capacity and opening up the graduation ceremony to all individuals interested in attending. 

The 2021 Belmont High School graduation ceremony will be held on Sunday, June 5 at 3 p.m. at Harris Field.

Previous planning had limited attendance to graduates and two guests per graduate. Now, the school is able to welcome more family members, friends, and community members to this event.

Please note: on-field seating will still be limited to graduates and their two guests. Graduates will be seated together and their two on-field guests can access the additional field seating. To access field seating, guests must arrive with their graduates. Because of previous restrictions, we are not utilizing a ticket system: the graduate is their guests’ “ticket” to enter onto the field.

All other guests are invited to sit on the bleachers or to access the standing room only areas.

Graduates and their two on-field guests should plan on arriving at 2:15 p.m. We will stage students for a procession and assist guests in accessing seating. All other guests are welcome to arrive between 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. Parking is limited. You may access parking at the high school, the Wellington School, and on Concord Avenue. 

Set, Game, Match: School Committee Won’t Commit To Bring Tennis To West Of Harris Field Campus

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Photo: No tennis courts West of Harris Field.

William Lovallo didn’t mince words: “Respect the process.”

The Chair of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee came to the Tuesday, May 25 meeting of the Belmont School Committee to provide context to the nearly four year give and take on returning tennis courts to the campus of the new Middle and High School after they were written out of the new facility’s blueprints back in 2017 due to the growing footprint of the new school.

To Lovallo, the continuing campaign to construct five courts – the minimum required to play a tournament varsity match – ignores two previous decisions in 2017 and 2020 by the building committee, school committee, select board and the school district resulting in exiling the varsity sport to courts nearby the Winn Brook Elementary School.

Belmont School Superintendent John Phelan and Lovallo said they retrieved public meeting minutes and reviewed broadcasts of the Building Committee to counter statements by the tennis community that public comment was not fully accomindated.

“For the benefit of Belmont, as a whole, we have to move forward through the process and not keep going back and unpacking and reevaluating things that were decisions that we made that have such a tremendous impact on the project,” said Lovallo, who said that while there’s always a time to review some aspects of the project, [B]ut certainly there has to be some respect of the process” especially after material, dialogue and data were provided at eight joint meetings that informed their vote.

“It was well-vetted, it was well discussed and the school committee approved [the site plan] back [in 2017],” said Lovallo. The effort to secure votes on the “whole site” by committees and boards was “because we understand that boards and committee [members] change and people have different opinions and will want to start to unpack this,” said Lovallo referring to the entire building project which is ready to open the high school and administrative wing in September.

After an hour and 35 minutes of , the School Committee couldn’t coalesce behind a single strategy to bring back the courts to the school, allowing the debate to simply peter out through its inaction and putting to an end nearly a year-and-a-half of at times emotional pleas to bring back the only varsity sport without a campus venue.

“The School Committee effectively killed off any potential plans for tennis courts west of Harris Field … last night by declining to intervene in any way,” said Belmont School Committee’s Mike Crowley.

Since January 2019, the town’s influential tennis community and parents of and players of Belmont High School girls’ and boys’ tennis teams have been lobbying the School Committee and the greater community to return the varsity sport to the new campus. Currently, the teams play on four town courts at the Winn Brook, a location tennis supporters note is without restroom/changing facilities or a water supply. The $190,000 cost to construct a fifth court at Winn Brook will come before Town Meeting next week via a Community Preservation Committee request.

After the school administration and then Athletic Director Jim Davis recommended in January 2020 that the tennis teams could play effectively at the Winn Brook, tennis campaigners this year hitched their chances to construct five courts onto the town’s latest plan to replace the town’s dilapidated skating rink on the MHS campus known as West of Harris Field.

The location’s program includes the rink, three overlapping playing fields for junior varsity baseball and softball and soccer/field hockey, and approximately 100 student parking spaces required under the Site Plan agreement hammered out with the Planning Board. Tennis supporters believed the five courts could be included in the mix by either reducing parking by 80 percent or taking the space of the JV baseball diamond.

But Lovallo recalled that the parking component – which includes approximately 400 spaces on the main campus, on Concord Avenue and west of Harris Field associated with a new rink – is part of the Site Plan Review process with the Planning Board. A dozen public meetings with abutters, residents, the town and determined everything from plantings to parking and the location of the buildings (including moving one wing of the high school section a few feet away from Clay Pit Pond).

“The Planning Board has the final say, basically the final approval that allows us to proceed with the building permit on the site plan,” said Lovallo. While the building committee will need to return to the Planning Board for final designs for West of Harris Field, there is an understanding that parking and the fields are the main components.

The 100 student parking slots west of Harris is to segregate beginning and inexperienced drivers from the main campus which will house 7th and 8th graders by 2023, said Lovallo. While the total number of spaces is far more than what is likely needed on an average school day, the additional spaces will accommodate overflow community and school events such as graduation, athletic events, plays and musical performances and Town Meeting.

Saying that there should always be an opportunity to reexamine past decisions, Crowley presented the most comprehensive action plan to support tennis on the site with six options which included the possibility of taking by eminent domain the service station abutting the West of Harris Field and allowing for student and event parking on many of the adjacent side streets.

“I just think that we should exhaust all these options. I don’t want to completely [block] the process for going forward on this site, but I do think it’s worth thinking about constituting a small group or committee … to take a few months and go through these options in depth and see if there is … some form of a compromise that allows us to cite tennis courts on the site,” said Crowley.

Others believed the continuing review of past decisions could have long lasting ramifications. “I don’t think that this is not a particularly good precedent to have. We have a plan that has been evaluated, consulted on, and thoroughly talked through. At some point, you have to say, ‘This is enough,” said Andrea Prestwich.

For tennis supporters, this lost opportunity will be felt years down the road. Katherine Stievater, who has two sons playing varsity tennis, told the School Committee its decision on the fields alignment will have ramifications for the high school tennis program for the next 50 years.

“[Placing tennis courts] can’t be done again if it’s not done now on the campus,” Stievater said, pointing out that the school’s softball program is not suiting up a JV team while cuts were made to the number of players trying out for the boys’ tennis teams.

“I urge you to create realistic field configuration that accommodates five or six tennis courts for our student athletes … who are just as important as every other student athlete at Belmont High School.”